Storytelling experiment PenTales comes to Toronto

By Ben Kaplan, National Post

PenTales began as a series of 20 stories written in 20 notebooks in Brooklyn, New York, that later travelled – one writer at a time – all over the world. "What interested us was that it wasn’t just a text message or an email, but it was a physical object that had value in itself," says Saskia Miller, the 28-year-old writer and organizer who co-created the idea. "We were looking for a way to connect people and also encourage writers and artist to make an actual physical connection with one another – especially now, considering how we’ve all come to rely so much on technology."

The first stories were written last September and they’ve spread, with each writer adding another two pages to the previous story, from locations in Brooklyn to contributors in Israel, Berlin, London, South Africa, Canada and Spain. (After each writer, illustrator or painter is done, it’s up to them where the notebook goes next). Writers thus far have included reporters at both the Guardian and the New York Times, Greta Gurwig, Ben Stiller's co-star in Greenberg, and the filmmaker Jonas Mekas. However, the notebooks – which can be tracked on the website PenTales.com – were only the first leg of the project begun by Saskia Miller and her childhood friend Stephanie Ursula Hodges. Soon after sending out the notebooks, the women also began holding storytelling classes and after-school creative writing seminars across New York’s five boroughs and holding storytelling nights once a month.

"The books were experimental on a small-scale, but the storytelling nights have really captured people’s imagination and become these amazing one-of-a-kind events," says Hodges, who works with the Parks Department in New York and was able to use her ties to the different communities to find locations for the monthly gatherings. "We started PenTales story nights in New York and now they’re being held in London, Berlin and Vietnam."

Next month, Canada also becomes part of the PenTales global community. On April 20th at the Free Times Café in Toronto, storytellers of all age and discipline will have a chance to come together to not only share their work, but to engage in storytelling games. (Which is actually cooler than it sounds and involves a roomful of people trading stories, spontaneous artwork and whatever else inspires them at the time). Built around a particular theme – and next month’s theme is Crime & Punishment – the evenings are based upon the idea that everyone is a participant, and that nothing anyone makes can be wrong.

"It’s not just a reading or performance, it’s an interactive community event," Miller says. "It’s really an opportunity to bring creative people together in a fun way and also to keep actual face-to-face storytelling alive."National Post

The National Post is behind PenTales Toronto and hopes to inspire you to get involved. Send 100 words about Crime & Punishment to bkaplan@nationalpost.com, and see your story published both at pentales.com and right here on the Afterword.

Photo: PenTales organizers Saskia Miller and Stephanie Ursula Hodges at the group's Love and Heartbreak event in New York. (Pentales)

PenTales began as a series of 20 stories written in 20 notebooks in Brooklyn, New York, that later travelled – one writer at a time – all over the world. "What interested us was that it wasn’t just a text message or an email, but it was a physical object that had value in itself," says Saskia Miller, the 28-year-old writer and organizer who co-created the idea. "We were looking for a way to connect people and also encourage writers and artist to make an actual physical connection with one another – especially now, considering how we’ve all come to rely so much on technology."

The first stories were written last September and they’ve spread, with each writer adding another two pages to the previous story, from locations in Brooklyn to contributors in Israel, Berlin, London, South Africa, Canada and Spain. (After each writer, illustrator or painter is done, it’s up to them where the notebook goes next). Writers thus far have included reporters at both

the Guardian

and

the New York Times

, Greta Gurwig, Ben Stiller’s co-star in Greenberg, and the filmmaker Jonas Mekas. However, the notebooks – which can be tracked on the website

– were only the first leg of the project begun by Saskia Miller and her childhood friend Stephanie Ursula Hodges. Soon after sending out the notebooks, the women also began holding storytelling classes and after-school creative writing seminars across New York’s five boroughs and holding storytelling nights once a month.

"The books were experimental on a small-scale, but the storytelling nights have really captured people’s imagination and become these amazing one-of-a-kind events," says Hodges, who works with the Parks Department in New York and was able to use her ties to the different communities to find locations for the monthly gatherings. "We started PenTales story nights in New York and now they’re being held in London, Berlin and Vietnam."

Next month, Canada also becomes part of the PenTales global community.

On April 20th at the Free Times Café in Toronto

, storytellers of all age and discipline will have a chance to come together to not only share their work, but to engage in storytelling games. (Which is actually cooler than it sounds and involves a roomful of people trading stories, spontaneous artwork and whatever else inspires them at the time). Built around a particular theme – and next month’s theme is Crime & Punishment – the evenings are based upon the idea that everyone is a participant, and that nothing anyone makes can be wrong.

"It’s not just a reading or performance, it’s an interactive community event," Miller says. "It’s really an opportunity to bring creative people together in a fun way and also to keep actual face-to-face storytelling alive."

National Post

The National Post is behind PenTales Toronto and hopes to inspire you to get involved. Send 100 words about Crime & Punishment to bkaplan@nationalpost.com, and see your story published both at pentales.com and right here on the Afterword.

Photo: PenTales organizers Saskia Miller and Stephanie Ursula Hodges at the group’s Love and Heartbreak event in New York. (Pentales)

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